Emergency doctor deregistered for taking ‘hillbilly heroin’ while working

A DOCTOR who took “hillbilly heroin” to get through shifts has been struck off the register.

Opoid drug OxyContin.

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A DOCTOR who took “hillbilly heroin” to get through shifts while working in the emergency department of Blacktown and Mount Druitt hospitals has been struck off for three years.

Nimi Azizi, 34, began working in the public hospital system soon after arriving from Iran in 2008, first in surgery at St George Hospital, then in the emergency departments of Blacktown and Mt Druitt hospitals.

Before long, Dr Azizi was prescribing himself the powerful painkiller OxyContin, known on the streets as “hillbilly heroin” for its opium-like effects on the nervous system when snorted.

In moving to deregister Dr Azizi, the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission alleged in the NSW Civil and Administration Tribunal last week that Dr Azizi prescribed himself 2856 pills over a period of seven months in 2013, paying more than $10,000 for the tablets to fund his addiction.

The Commission alleged Dr Azizi took OxyContin when he was rostered on duty in the emergency department, at one stage telling a doctor that he was using the drug “to get energy to do shifts”.

Dr Nimi Azizi worked at Mt Druitt Hospital emergency department.

The Tribunal heard the Hospital’s Pharmaceutical Services Unit became suspicious of Dr Azizi after he made out three prescriptions for the same patient whom had never been treated in the emergency department.

The emergency department also conducted a performance assessment after Dr Azizi turned up to work “dishevelled and untidy”, which he claimed was due to his tiredness from preparing for a clinical exam.

However, his secret life soon became exposed after he was forced to call an ambulance following an overdose of methadone, which he had begun taking to ease the withdrawal symptoms from going off OxyContin.

The Tribunal heard Dr Azizi at one stage lost consciousness, but despite his condition, was “uncooperative” during his treatment, eventually discharging himself against medical advice.

In instigating disciplinary proceedings, Blacktown and Mt Druitt hospital management stated that Dr Azizi had potentially compromised patient care “by practising while under the influence of drugs or alcohol” while at the same time engaging in fraudulent activities.

The Tribunal heard Dr Azizi resigned from the hospitals, but had since been working as a GP at a group medical practice in Mt Kuringai after gaining a general registration.

In finding in favour of the HCCC, the Tribunal ruled that Dr Azizi had engaged in improper and unethical conduct.

It banned Dr Azizi from practising for three years, at which time he would be allowed to apply for a review.